Wildcats travel to Utah for first WAC roadtrip

THURSDAY at SOUTHERN UTAH

SERIES HISTORY VS. SOUTHERN UTAH

• ALL-TIME | First meeting
• LAST MEETING | n/a
• STREAK | n/a
• IN ABILENE | n/a
• IN CEDAR CITY | n/a
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

SATURDAY vs. UTAH TECH

SERIES HISTORY VS. UTAH TECH

• ALL-TIME | Third meeting (series tied, 1-1)
• LAST MEETING | Oct. 22, 2021 (Utah Tech W, 3-2)
• STREAK | Utah Tech, w1
• IN ABILENE | Utah Tech leads 1-0
• IN ST. GEORGE | n/a
• NEUTRAL | ACU leads, 1-0
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ABILENE - The Wildcats will make their first WAC trip of the season as they head to Utah for the weekend. ACU currently sits in ninth place in the conference standings, just ahead of of both Southern Utah and Utah Tech. This will be the first ever meeting between the Wildcats and Thunderbirds as SUU is in their first season as a member of the WAC. The Trailblazers visited Abilene last season and came away with a five-set victory. 

A LOOK AT THE 'CATS

• OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: The Wildcats matched a season-high with 72 kills against Sam Houston in their WAC opener, doing it on a .351 hitting percentage as a team. Three Wildcats hit .550 or better in the match and the offensive output was balanced with five different hitters registering double-digit kills. Braden Bossier, Brea Box, and Jada Birkel each set or matched season-highs in both kills and hitting percentage.
• OUTSIDE FORCE: Bryley Steinhilber has been on a tear over the last six matches tallying double-digit kills in five of those contests. She averaged 3.14 kills per set at TCU and set a new career-high with 17 kills against the Horned Frogs. She has three double-doubles in the last five matches and earned an All-Tournament selection for her performance in Fort Worth. She tallied yet another double-double in the win over Sam Houston with 12 kills and 14 digs.
• TRIPLE THREAT: Madeline Guffy notched a double-double in seven matches on the year. She continues to have success running the offense, alongside Madison Rohre, and has matched that with her defensive presence as well. Her dig numbers are in the top four on the team and on top of her assists and digs she is leading the team in aces with 21 on the year.
• BLOCK PARTY: The Wildcats are coming off of one of their best blocking weekends of the season where they totaled 27 blocks through three matches. The team had a season-high 14 blocks against TCU with Brea Box leading the way with eight total in the match. Braden Bossier continues to lead the team on the year with 37 total blocks and averaging 0.79 blocks per set. Bossier has moved into eighth place in ACU's DI history for total blocks with 163 in her career, Box is sitting just outside of the top-10 with 145 career blocks.
• HOT STARTS: The team has had a number of 1-0 or 2-1 set leads that have ended in losses on the year. The team has lost seven matches on the year where they took the first set or held at least a 2-1 lead. The Wildcats have had great starts in a number of matches but have struggled to play at the same intensity to close out matches. 
• FRESHMAN PHENOM: Ashli Edmiston continues to make her mark for the Wildcats through three weekends of action. The freshman leads the team in both kills per set (2.46) and points per set (2.88). She opened the season with a double-double, she now has four on the season, and has eight double-digit kill performances.
• DIGGING DEEP: The team posted their most digs in a four-set match with 89 against the Lobos on opening weekend and matched that total in a defensive slugfest against Tulsa last weekend. Logan Browning set a new career-high with 27 digs against Tulsa and five different players registered double-digit digs in the match.
• THE BLAIR ERA: Alisa Blair returns to the helm of a program for the first time since spending three seasons as head coach with the Hill College volleyball program where she went 83-38 during her tenure. Blair was instrumental in the success of programs at Central Oklahoma and, most recently, SFA as an assistant and will now strive to bring that same success to Abilene.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN UTAH (2-11, 1-3 WAC)

• The Thunderbirds have struggled this season with just two win on the young season. The team earned wins over Idaho State and Utah Tech. 
• The team has three players who have scored 100-plus points on the year and are led by Makenzie Templeton who has 130.5 points and 117 kills on the season. 
• Raegen Beeson leads the team in blocks with 34 on the year and averages 0.69 blocks per set. 

SCOUTING UTAH TECH (7-6, 1-3 WAC)

• After starting conference play 0-3, the Trailblazers earned an impressive four-set win over NM State on the road where the team hit a combined .303 in the match. 
• Whittnee Nihipali leads the team with 180 points on the season with 149 kills on a .208 hitting percentage. 
• The Trailblazers are one of the top top teams in the WAC in digs, averaging 16.12 digs per set, while also holding opponents to a .182 hitting percentage on the season. 

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